A march in Lebanon, July 2016, against racism and curfews faced by Syrian refugees. Photo: Levant Chronicles on Facebook

The Lebanese government banned all protests around the same time activists were forced to cancel a sit-in—in support of Syrian refugees—due to online threats.

It is unclear if the two events are connected. The sit-in was scheduled to take place on 18 July in the capital Beirut.

In a clear violation of the right to assembly and protest, on 16 July, the Lebanese government announced a ban on all protests. Minister of Interior Nohad Machnouk tweeted that any requests to protest will be denied:

after discussing [recent developments] with the concerned security forces, we decided to decline any requests, from anyone, to hold a protest, in order to preserve security and civil peace.

Before the ban, the activists who were planning to protest the mistreatment of Syrian refugees faced numerous attacks and threats from Lebanese commentators and politicians, prompting the organizers to cancel the sit-in. The activists were accused of “inciting ” against the Lebanese army and of supporting ISIS.

Syrians make up about a quarter of Lebanon’s population, making it the highest concentration per capita of refugees in the world. Syrian refugees are often the scapegoat of economic and security issuesin Lebanon. In 2014, Human Rights Watch documented 11 violent attacks against Syrian refugees or people perceived to be Syrians, and reported at least 45 curfews imposed on Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Vocal opposition to Syrian refugees in Lebanon has been rising steadily over the past year, with senior Lebanese politicians calling for them to return home to war-torn Syria.

The Socialist Forum, a leftist political group in Lebanon, organized the sit-in event, in solidarity with Lebanon's 1.5 million Syrian refugees, following a military operation on June 30 in “search for terrorists, weapons and explosives” in two refugee camps in the town of Arsal.

Death of detained Syrian refugees

The raid led to the arrest of more than 350 Syrians. Four of the arrested refugees died while in custody, the Lebanese army announced on 4 July. They blamed their deaths on “health complications” and hot weather. But the news website Middle East Eye obtained pictures showing “huge gashes and bruising on the bodies of three of the four men.” The detainees’ deaths have raised questions about the conditions of their detentions, particularly as pictures showing signs of mistreatment and bruises on the victims’ bodies began to circulate online.

Right before the ban, the threats against the Socialist Forum grew, when the names of three of its activists, who submitted a request for a protest permit to the Beirut municipality, were spread on social media with their telephone numbers and pictures.

Activists face online threats

Joseph Abu Fadel, a Lebanese political analyst and lawyer, posted a threatening tweet on 15 July in which he referred to the protest as one against the “champion Lebanese army by adulterers of Daesh” and threatened that the planned site for the protest would become “their cemetery.” Daesh is how the Arabic-speaking world refers to ISIS.

Abu Fadel has approximately 30,000 Twitter followers, and the tweet was retweeted more than 250 times at the time of writing.

Wiam Wahhab, a former ministerof environment and the leader of the nationalist party, the Lebanese Unification Movement, called on the Ministry of Interior (in a tweet) to cancel the protest.

He also called for a counter-protest the same day in support of the Lebanese army and against Daesh. Wahhab's party is in the 8 March political alliance, which also includes the militant group Hezbollah, which intervened in Syria since 2013 to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad. In a third tweet, he added that if the Lebanese state cannot prevent the protest, people will.

If the state does not ban the protest against the Lebanese army, many Lebanese [political] forces will take care of it and the protest will be banned

A video posted on Facebook [warning: violent content] shows several men, one of them armed with a rifle, questioning a man who they identify as being Syrian about whether he will join the sit-in. The harassers, after asking the man for his papers, slap and kick him on the ground. They accuse him of being a member of Daesh and order him to repeat:

God with the Lebanese army, f*ck Daesh, God with the commander of the [Lebanese] army and the president of the [Lebanese] republic.

On the Wednesday 19th of July, Interior Minister Machnouk tweeted that the police had arrested the harassers.

In their 16 July statement announcing their decision to cancel the sit-in, the Socialist Forum condemned the Beirut municipality for the leak. The group also clarified the purpose of the protest:

The goal was to strengthen or restore relations between Lebanese and Syrians, hoping to counter the discourse of hatred and racism.

The group further denied accusations that it is inciting against the Lebanese army, and called on authorities to investigate the deaths of the four detainees.

Contrary to what is being said by some officials and others on social media platforms, we would like to clarify that the Socialist Forum does not cause incitement against the Lebanese Army, as per its statement on July 13, 2017, which calls for:

1. A transparent and independent investigation to uncover all the causes of the suspects’ deaths.
2. The strict public accountability for all those involved in torture, murder, and other forms of abuse.
3. The revealing of the remaining arbitrary detainees, their release and compensation.
4. The end of the exploitation of the refugee issue for political manipulation, and to stop treating it as a security threat.
5. The abolishing of all racist decisions against refugees, and the end of practices that forces them to return against their will to brutal killings and massacres, as the regional and international community remains suspiciously and criminally silent.

In addition to the threats they faced online, Lebanese activists standing in solidarity with Syrian refugees were also subjected to harassment from the authorities.

Fidaa Itani, a journalist who criticized the Lebanese army, Lebanese president Michel Aoun and foreign affairs minister Gebran Bassil in a Facebook post, about the raids on the refugees camps in Arsal and the mistreatment of Syrian refugees, was detained for one night and questioned by the Internal Security Forces cybercrime bureau. He was released on 11 July only after he deleted the post. In another case of harassment, the army seized medical samples collected by Lebanese lawyer Diala Chehade from the bodies of the victims, obstructing any civil investigations into the matter.

Ban on protests

The government has not specified the duration of the ban on protesting. But Moulahazat, a blog that analyzes Lebanese politics, believes the reason behind this ban is to avoid any protests during parliamentary talks about tax hikes, which are often met with big protests in Lebanon:

The Lebanese government allowed two rival protests regarding refugees and the army to take place, and then banned all protests after an impression was given that the protesters were going to clash.

You all took the bait: A tax hike parliamentary session is taking place on Tuesday, and the ruling class just directly used the refugees issue to make things easier for them in parliament without you even noticing.
Lebanese Politicians 1 – Panicking Lebanese 0
Welcome to elections season, Lebanon.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/21/lebanese-government-bans-all-protests-right-before-a-syrian-refugee-solidarity-sit-in/feed/0Violence in Arsal Is a Reminder of How Vulnerable Syrian Refugees Are in Lebanonhttps://globalvoices.org/2017/07/07/violence-in-arsal-is-a-reminder-of-how-vulnerable-syrian-refugees-are-in-lebanon/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/07/violence-in-arsal-is-a-reminder-of-how-vulnerable-syrian-refugees-are-in-lebanon/#respondFri, 07 Jul 2017 16:00:06 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=621242

Syrians who fled the war at home for the Lebanese border town of Arsal are once again caught up in the violence between Lebanese forces and Syria-based militant groups.

This latest incident has raised fears of renewed hostility towards refugees. Arsal has a history of Syria-related bloodshed due to its proximity to the country, and it is often the case that refugees end up being scapegoated after armed conflict.

On June 30, 2017, Lebanese soldiers raided two Syrian refugee camps in the border town of Arsal, in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, to “search for terrorists, weapons, and explosives.” They were met with five suicide bombers, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA). A young Syrian girl died when a suicide bomber detonated himself.

At least 350 people were detained in the raids; by July 4, 315 had been released, according to the Lebanese newspaper Daily Star. No news has come out as to the whereabouts of those still in custody. Global Voices contributor Ruslan Trad's own relatives were among the detained.

As the news came out of violence in Arsal, pictures of detainees with their faces on the ground surrounded by soldiers were widely shared on social media and were met with criticism.

But others supported the army's actions. Lebanese blogger Claude El-Khal wrote that these online criticism constitute “attacks on the Lebanese army”.

And Da7yeh, a popular news website with an editorial stance that is pro-Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese political and militant group, shared a photo to its more than 400,000 followers of some of the detainees, mocking them and calling them ISIS. Hezbollah has fought in the Syrian war on the side of President Bashar al-Assad's government and Iran, claiming their intervention was to “protect Lebanon” and “fight against terrorists”.

Torture allegations follow detainees’ death

But on Tuesday July 4, the army shared another statement claiming that four of the Syrian detainees died in custody “due to health complications”, raising questions about the way the detainees are being treated.

Many Syrian activists have claimed that the men were killed, or that the Lebanese army was guilty of abusing them before they died. A number of human rights organizations have called for independent investigations, including Human Rights Watch and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, which specifically condemned the use of torture by the armed forces:

We strongly condemn what has happened since last Friday, the spread of degrading images that document the arrests, the torture of detainees and the systematic campaign of intimidation against any person or organizations who raised their voice to criticize the illegal procedures used by the armed forces.

But those who criticize or even question the army's methodology often received scorn and intimidation. The saying “the army is a red line” (الجيش اللبناني خط أحمر) is a popular one in Lebanon, and denotes the widespread belief that the army is beyond criticism.

For example, the Facebook page entitled “The army is a red line” (in Arabic) asked its more than 40,000 followers to demand the arrest of lawyer Tarek Chindeb, who criticized the army on his Twitter account.

Furthermore, government agencies have targeted human rights groups who raise allegations of torture. In 2011, several organizations called on the government to “cease harassment of human rights activist for documenting torture”.

For his part, the Lebanese human rights minister has called for an investigation into the events following Arsal, citing the need to “preserve the army's image and prevent any rumors that may be malicious”.

And Lebanese blogger Kareem Chehayeb, while pointing out that evidence shows torture is “routinely practiced by Lebanon's police and army”, argued that what transpired at Arsal demonstrated a larger issue surrounding refugees in Lebanon:

Whatever happened, we have to recognize that the response towards these attacks where refugees/Syrians are all assumed guilty is inhumane

Arsal and the Syrian Civil War

Arsal has long been affected by the Syrian revolution and subsequent civil war due to its proximity to the Syrian border.

Between November and December 2013, the infamous Battle of Qalamoun in Syria between pro- and anti-regime forces pushed 100,000 refugees into neighboring areas in Lebanon, notably Arsal. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the Assad regime and its ally Hezbollah.

In a matter of months, Arsal's population was tripled.

Just a few months later, on August 2, 2014, the Lebanese army arrested a commander from Nusra, Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and was subsequently attacked by both Nusra and ISIS. The extremist groups took over the town the same day, trapping refugees and residents between two warring parties for a few days.

On December 1, 2015, 16 Lebanese prisoners were exchanged with 13 Nusra members during a swap in Arsal. The deal, which took a whole year, was brokered by Qatar.

Syrian refugees’ precarious situation

Wounds that Syrian refugee “Ali” sustained after being attacked in his home in Jnah and shot with a pump-action shotgun on September 19, 2014, by men he believed belonged to a Lebanese political party. Source: Human Rights Watch. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US

The latest out of Arsal has some worried Syrians could become targets of reprisals.

After the 2014 Battle of Arsal, Human Rights Watch documented 11 violent attacks against Syrian refugees or people perceived to be Syrians. One refugee at the time told the organization:

When I first arrived, Lebanese people were very hospitable to me, they treated me like a refugee, someone who needed protection and had fled from the war. Now they treat me as if I am a terrorist or a security threat.

Several members of parliament support the idea of sending back Syrian refugees to “safe areas” in Syria, which would mean working with the Assad government, a highly controversial proposition to take in Lebanon.

The Lebanese public are largely weary of Assad's rule due to Syria's past occupation of their country, which ended in 2005. This was the so-called Cedar Revolution, triggered by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister and anti-Assad politician Rafik Hariri.

Furthermore, refugees themselves are resistant to the idea out of fear of going back to regime-held areas. The Daily Star cited an anonymous source who said many refugees from Arsal have requested being moved to rebel-held Jarablus in Syria.

And some political movements in the country argue that Syria has no legitimate government, and that therefore it would be impossible to coordinate with any one power on returning refugees. The Lebanese minister of refugee affairs insists on a UN-coordinated return of Syrian refugees, refusing to deal with Assad.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/07/violence-in-arsal-is-a-reminder-of-how-vulnerable-syrian-refugees-are-in-lebanon/feed/0Lebanese Dancers See Growing Public Appreciation of Their Workhttps://globalvoices.org/2017/05/29/lebanese-dancers-see-growing-public-appreciation-of-their-work/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/05/29/lebanese-dancers-see-growing-public-appreciation-of-their-work/#respondMon, 29 May 2017 10:00:20 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=612375

Assadourian, who was herself a former contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, said that she's been witnessing a sort of bodily liberation around her:

Latin dance, in particular, has become mandatory in dance studios. You see men and women of different ages and from all walks of life coming into the studio to have fun and work out. Even men are letting go of their fear of hip-shaking. I never thought I’d live to see the day where men would do that.

She added:

Of course, people still come in with a fear of not being able to keep up with the choreography but that’s normal. It might be difficult at first but eventually, your body and mind get used to it. It just takes a bit of practice and hard work. Most people prefer to take up dancing rather than hit the gym, because it doesn’t feel like a workout.

Lyne Gandour, a popular hip-hop dancer, first caught the eyes of her dance teachers at a tender age. She was constantly praised for having a contagious energy whenever she danced. Her ability to memorize choreography and improvise made her one of the most well-known young dancers in Lebanon. Just like many others in her field, Gandour also noticed a shift in attitude when it comes to dance:

My first steps in dance started at a very young age with gymnastics, that I learned in my home country of Ivory Coast. Being raised in Africa developed in me a big respect for this form of art. When I moved to Lebanon, my dedication for dance grew ten times stronger, particularly because of how people treated dance and dancers. When I opened my new dance studio, my aim was to educate my students about dance and make them work very hard at it. I want this artistic domain to be as challenging as any well reputed major in Lebanon.

Such a shift would be very different from the public perception of dance that Gandour encountered when she first moved to Lebanon:

I believe that dance has been quite often associated with pejorative meanings in the Arab world. I never felt like dance earned the respect it deserved until programs such as Dancing With The Stars came to the Arab world. It was seen more as a sin rather than an art form.

Seeing your celebrity role model expressing her or himself in a new language made all those fans want to understand what dance is all about. Dancing With The Stars gave this form of art a second chance, allowing everyone to see the struggle, drive, dedication all dancers go through; which made it real, raw and definitely relatable.

Another side effect of this popularity has been a rise in Arabic pop music videos using dance crews that perform slick choreography behind the artist. Popular Arabic artists such as Najwa Karam and Assi El Helani took part in this popular new trend, despite making music that couldn't be further from the hip-hop genre.

Greek-Lebanese hip-hop pioneer Charles Makriss says of this popular trend:

Sometimes artists come to me last-minute wanting to learn choreography. The truth is, I only teach them a step or two. It’s painful to see non-dancers trying to execute choreography. This is why I prefer to incorporate my own dance crew. I don’t want to embarrass the artist and make them look awkward. I’ve been doing this for more than 15 years. I even opened my own hip-hop dance school.

No matter the reason, the shift in the Lebanese public’s opinion regarding dance has become more apparent now.

With dance shows highlighting the incredible amount of dedication and effort dancers — and non-dancers — put into just a three-minute piece of choreography, it’s no wonder so many dancers are now opening new dance schools.

Even academic institutions such as the Lebanese American University (LAU) hopped on the performance bandwagon, making it among the first to cater to art students interested in pursuing a career in the performance arts. It is among a handful of tertiary institutions offering both a bachelor's degree and a minor in Performing Arts.

It seems like Lebanon has become more accepting of professional dancers, and more respectful of dancing as a profession. There is no telling what the future holds for this energetic new trend.

On May 19, two activists from the “You Stink” movement disrupted a talk involving prominent Lebanese politicians at the campus of Saint-Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut.

“You Stink”, a Lebanese political movement, which was launched as a response to the 2015 trash crisis, and an array of independent political groups and civil society organizations are calling for a new proportional law with big electorates.

Talk by the politicians at the USJ university. From left to right: Sami Gemayel, Jamal Jarrah, Alain Aoun, Fadi Karam and Youssef Saade. Source: You Stink. Used with permission.

The politicians were debating the electoral law and the extension of parliament, despite the fact that the MPs are themselves part of the parliament which extended its own term twice.

As Joey Ayoub, regional editor at Global Voices for the MENA region, explained on the March 23:

Elections should have taken place in June of 2013, but the parliament extended its own term for 17 months citing ‘security concerns’. Then, in November of 2014, citing the need to decide on a new electoral law before voting, the parliament delayed elections to 2017. This time, the government is saying the extension is for ‘ technical reasons’, in reality the parliament has reached a deadlock on the new electoral law.

And as the second extension's deadline on June 19 is getting close, a third extension is being talked about. This, to quote Ayoub again, means that most Lebanese youth has yet to vote and won't be able to until further notice.

To put this in perspective, a 28-year-old Lebanese citizen has yet to vote for their parliamentarian of choice despite being legally allowed to vote since they turned 21.

Lebanese politicians have been discussing the electoral law on and off for years. The debate concerns whether Lebanon retains a majoritarian system, or adopts a proportional one, as called for by many civil society groups and independent political parties. The current electoral system is defined by “block voting”.

Critics argue that the current electoral law, called the 1960 electoral law, adopts a ‘winner takes all’ approach with a single round. For example, if an electoral list gets 51% of the votes, it gets all of the representation. An electoral list that got 49% of the votes gets nothing, resulting in a full victory for the one that got 51%. This, many argue, doesn't allow for the emergence of new political forces and explains why Lebanon has seen the same parties recycled in recent decades.

In addition, the current law is also sectarian because the Lebanese parliament has to be divided equally between Muslims and Christians, meaning each confession has a predetermined number of seats.

The Kataeb for example, are calling for single districts, giving them more control on the district by gerrymandering it by sect. Activists have instead opposed such sectarian thinking, arguing that big electorates reduce sectarianism and corrupt clientelism. With bigger districts, they say, candidates will have to expand their campaign rhetoric beyond their own sects in order to win a bigger constituency.

The event was recorded live on Facebook by a third activist with ‘You Stink’. The two protesters were soon taken away by students supportive of the politicians, however.

The signs held by the protesters read: “proportional electoral law and big electorates” and “eight years of lies and procrastination”, referring to the fact that the current parliament has been in power since 2009. One of the protesters said: “Go home!”. The other continued: “Eight years you've been laughing at us.”

They continued to shout “is this your civilized way to do things?” while being forced out.

Speaking to Global Voices, Tarek Serhan, one of the activists in the video, explained they were simply trying to make a point:

We wanted to tell them “You Stink, your expiry date is passed, you can now go home, you are discussing democracy but you stole people's rights by not allowing them to vote.”

Speaking about the students who pushed them out, he said:

We told them we were peaceful and that they don't need to shove us in that manner.

When the activists were outside, the students continued to intimidate the activists.

We told them that we do not want any fight, they mocked us and said that you cannot even fight us.

A member of ‘You Stink’, who preferred to stay anonymous, told Global Voices that the activist who took the video was also followed and intimidated.

In less than 24 hours, the video has been viewed more than 42,000 times on Facebook, with many comments supporting the two activists who protested, condemning the students who ushered the protesters out and the students who stayed idle.

In a meeting earlier this month, the Lebanese cabinet adopted a decree aimed at regularizing illegal buildings in a parcel of land on the edges of Beirut's largest green space, Horsh Beirut. This comes after a decision from Beirut's municipal council to change the zoning of this parcel which would allow the construction of buildings.

In an interview with French-language daily L’Orient Le Jour, Jamal Itani, Beirut's current Mayor, argued that the decree was aimed at a parcel that is not properly part of the park:

It’s a part of the plot, it’s true, but it’s not the public park. It’s land separated from the “horsh” with a road upon which there is a cemetery, some buildings, one of which is for the Makassed, as well as a mosque affiliated with the Cheikh Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine foundation.

For Mohammad Ayoub, president of Nahnoo, a Lebanese NGO advocating for public space, these arguments are in no way satisfactory.

They want to stuff down our throats that “Horsh Beirut” is only a triangle of greenery, but it’s not true. The parcel concerned by the decree is part of the ‘Plot 1925′ where the Pine forest is located. It benefited from a “natural site” zoning that forbade any construction. If buildings were erected in it during the war, is it worthwhile to legalize them?

This is not the first time that Horsh Beirut has been threatened by construction. The recent decision of the municipality to build a field hospital inside Horsh Beirut sparked outrage among civil society figures. On February 9, hundreds of people gathered to protest in front of Horsh Beirut and ask the municipality to stop its ‘nibbling’ policy with banners reading “Horsh Beirut is a protected natural site. Keep your projects away from it”.

Following demonstrations, the municipality of Beirut froze construction. However, due to political pressures, it went back on its decision just a week later, with 9 votes against the hospital and 13 in favor, allowing the planned construction to continue.

A sanctuary in summer

Vegetated areas are important in cities like Beirut that suffer scorching summer temperatures. A study by Kaloustian and Diab showed that because of what is called ‘the Urban Heat Island effect’, a difference of up to 6˚C can be found between vegetated and densely or semi-densely built up areas in the summer season.The Lebanese capital is not the only city suffering from extreme summer temperatures and a lack of green spaces. In fact, Barcelona, Spain’s densely populated second city, badly needs new green spaces to battle its heat island effect, manage air and noise pollution, and generally improve citizens’ quality of life.

That is why the city planned a re-greening program, aiming at doubling the number of trees in the city, increasing park space by two-thirds, and providing each citizen an extra square meter of green area. The urban plan, which will deliver 108 acres of new green space by 2019 and over 400 acres by 2030 is a model of ingenuity that could serve other cities well.Specifically, Barcelona's municipality is planning on creating ‘green corridors’ to connect Barcelona’s existing parks, greening the interior courtyards of the city’s large buildings, and implementing green roofs.

Taken individually, all these micro-projects are tiny drops in a bucket. Together they work to create a Barcelona that is greener, fresher, more sustainable, and more humane.

A question of priorities

Beirut has had its fair share of greening initiatives, but most of them never saw the light of day. Back in 2011, through an agreement between the Ile-de-France region and the Beirut municipality, the “liaison douce” project was born.

The project aimed at linking Horsh Beirut to Beirut’s downtown through the Damascus street, which would become a big garden in the heart of the city with a bike path, pedestrian area, and bus lanes.

Practically, the project would facilitate mobility through the use of public transport and bikes, to make the circulation of pedestrians, cars, and bikes safer and to achieve a pleasant meeting space between Achrafieh and Ras el Nabeh for the citizens of Beirut.

In an interview in September 2014, Nadim Abourizk, Beirut’s then-vice mayor said of the project:

The idea is to create a soft link from the Pine Forest all the way to the downtown area passing through Damascus Street providing cycling, public transportation, and pedestrian walkways. This is a pilot project in the city and the first phase of design has already been validated and hopefully very soon we can proceed with the next phases of the project. The Liason Douce will connect the National Museum next to the Hippodrome, Beit Beirut Museum and the Archaeological Museum which is planned in Solidere area.

Of the historic Beirut hippodrome, which is right next to “Horsh Beirut”, he added:

We envisaged a park with no construction basically, but enjoying environmental, ecological, leisure, and touristic activities within the center of Beirut. This area relates very well to the Horsh Beirut – Pine Forest, a land of 400,000 square meters which is next door. They are only divided by Boulevard Omar Beyhum. Historically it was one huge green lung for the city of Beirut. The caravans used to pass through the park and with time this caravan lane was transformed into a high-speed boulevard. Our objective is to open this green land again to everybody in the city.

This project is one of the many initiatives collecting dust in the offices of the municipal council, however. And matters seem to be getting worse with Beirut warming up due to climate change.

To add insult to injury, Beirut’s pine forest has temporarily been closed to the public to try and fight a fatal disease threatening Lebanon’s historic parasol trees.

The mismanagement of the country's natural heritage, in addition to the pressures of diseases and climate change, has left Beirut and Lebanon's few remaining green spaces under threat.

Beirutis could well be wondering what might have been had Beirut Madinati, the volunteer-led campaign to elect a municipal council of politically unaffiliated individuals back in May 2016, gained access to the decision-making halls of the Council.

With their promise of conserving Beirut’s natural heritage and establishing an interlinked network of public gardens, open spaces, a publicly accessible waterfront and natural and architectural heritage, things might have worked out differently.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/05/22/beiruts-municipality-deals-another-blow-to-the-citys-green-space/feed/0To Take a Stand for Love, Beirut Pride Had to Overcome Hatehttps://globalvoices.org/2017/05/17/beirut-pride-seeks-to-tackle-discrimination-and-present-a-positive-stance-against-hate/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/05/17/beirut-pride-seeks-to-tackle-discrimination-and-present-a-positive-stance-against-hate/#respondWed, 17 May 2017 11:39:56 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=614698

Bracelets distributed during Beirut Pride. Photo used with permission.

A number of events have been planned between May 14 and May 23, 2017. From a fashion exhibition to film screenings, passing by talks, workshops and gatherings, the idea is to present “a positive stance against hate and discrimination in general, and those against gender and sexual diversity in particular.” The full list can be found here and the associated hashtag is #BeirutPride.

Although there have been smaller events in the past, 2017 is seen as the first organized Beirut Pride.

The hotel, however, was pressured by a group of Muslim scholars to cancel the event. The scholars, members of the League of Muslim Scholars (Ulemas) in Lebanon (هيئة علماء المسلمين في لبنان), released a number of statements on their Facebook page threatening to intervene with protests if the event were to take place.

The victim of an organized campaign of pressure, intimidations and even threats by a number of Muslim authorities in the country, and not just extremists, the group was told by the security services of the hotel that it was persona non grata.

The statements in question, published on the Ulemas’ Facebook page, cite the all-too-common reasons opposing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+). In one status, they urge the government to “put an immediate stop to this situation that has gone too far which threatens social security, conduct, values and public health and the structure of Lebanese families”.

Although Lebanon's is often seen as a relative safe haven for LGBTQ+ in the Arab World, homophobia and transphobia remain widespread and LGBTQ+ people continue to face legal discrimination.

This is not to mean that progress has not occurred. Article 534 has faced legal challenges and in 2013 Lebanon's Psychiatric Society made it the first Arab country to denounce the belief that homosexuality is a mental disorder.

Speaking to Global Voices, Khaled Merheb, Proud Lebanon's lawyer, said that the government was asked by Proud Lebanon why it did not offer protection against these threats given that the group has been legally registered since 2014 (and should thus protect NGOs facing threats), but the government offered no explanation.

They said nothing about Beirut Pride in general but said that any event needs a prior permit from the general security and that the NGO should be registered with the Ministry of Interior. They said this while knowing that such events don't need a permit and that Proud [Lebanon] has been legally registered since 2014

Opposition to the event didn't just come from Muslim groups. The author of this piece also saw a WhatsApp message being distributed by members of a Christian Orthodox group in which members were asked to “pray against the threat of homosexuality”.

The message further said that “homosexuality is now recognized in most Western countries and it is now being promoted in Lebanon” followed by an invitation to a conference by a certain “doctor” who will present his view as well as that of the Church.

Consequently, the event did not take place.

Beirut Pride perseveres

But despite the bump on the road, the rest of Beirut Pride is still taking place.

It is motivated by a fundamental principle, that of “promoting self-affirmation and dignity” and opposing “hate speech and violence, especially those based on gender and sexual diversity” while advocating “non-aggression and an unbiased approach to preconceived ideas through social awareness initiatives”, as per the Beirut Pride Statement.

As part of the Beirut Pride events, the Cliffhangers group, a Beirut-based storytelling community, organized a story night on the night of May 15 under the theme “LGBTQ+ and allies and fluidity in all its forms”.

It was the “usual format”, Dima Matta, the group's founder, tells Global Voices, “a line up and then open mic”. Among the participants were Hamed Sinno, Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila‘s frontman; Laure Makarem, a feminist activist involved with the Feminist Network; Sinine Nakhle, a psychology instructor at the American University of Beirut; Lary BS, a Beirut-based costume designer, fashion stylist and consultant; and Nour Hajjar, a Lebanese stand-up comedian.

It was then followed with an open mic session during which several participants took to the stage to share their personal stories.

They also released a video on their Facebook page narrated by Ameen Rhayem, AFE project coordinator and presenter at Tele Liban, Lebanon's first public television network, that aimed to raise awareness regarding the correct terms to use in Lebanese media when talking about the LGBTQ+ community.

He explained the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, used the term “Al Meem” (Arabic acronym) to describe LGBTQ+ and denounced homophobic and transphobic language still prevalent in much of Lebanese media.

The video was significant because it used the Arabic words for LGBTQ+, homophobia, transphobia and so on. This is a conscious decision that many LGBTQ+ activists and allies have taken over the past few years to make sure to reach a wider audience as it is still common to use the English terms while in Arabic, derogatory terms are usually used instead.

Section of the poster being used for the Heritage Watch Day. Full photo.

In the years following the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, Beirut witnessed a privatization and development frenzy that altered the shape of the city, from its coast to the hills surrounding the peninsula.

The period, known as the ‘reconstruction era’ and often referring to the 1990s but which continues to this day, has seen many of Beirut’s historical landmarks threatened with destruction to make place for ‘redevelopment’.

Academics have called this an of act of ‘spatial erasure’, arguing that “the spatial erasure initiated by war destruction is consolidated during postwar reconstruction”, in the words of Marwan Ghadour and Mona Fawaz. Bruno Marot and Serge Yazigi even went further and argued that “the rise of market-led urbanism, a lack of proper urban planning and the far-reaching sectarian polarisation” could sow “the seeds for future conflict”.

In response, activists in Lebanon are organizing a Heritage Watch Day to bring international attention to a number of threatened historical sites as well as encourage locals to actively defend them. This time, two sites will be the focus: the Hneine Palace and the Peninsula of Dalieh.

The Hneine Palace is one of the most remarkable buildings in Zokak el-Blat, once a bourgeois garden district outside the old city walls of Beirut. After the outbreak of civil war in 1975, the ground floor became home to displaced families, who used makeshift walls to subdivide the large spaces.

By 1990, these last occupants had been evicted and the palace now lies empty and decaying. The building has multiple owners, without clear agreement about its future, while the pace of real estate development in the area has been intensifying.

As for the Peninsula of Dalieh, it is an important landmark on the city’s coastal promenade with rich social and cultural value. The open rocky area along the seashore has been used for hundreds of years by working-class families for daily recreational activities like swimming and religious festivals, as well as farming and fishing.

There has been a long tradition of public access to the Beirut shoreline, beginning under Ottoman rule (16th century to 1918) and continuing through the French mandate (1920-1943) with laws prohibiting development on the coast.

But since the 1960s, a series of legal changes have removed most of the protection for the coastline, permitting almost unchecked development.

This opportunity has been seized by major real estate investors, who have managed to gain ownership of almost the entire site. The current owners now propose to build a private beach resort, and the initial phases of this work have included demolishing fishing shelters and fencing off the site to prevent public access.

And the Civil Campaign to Protect the Dalieh of Raouche, a coalition of individuals and non-governmental organizations who share a strong commitment to the preservation of Beirut’s shared spaces, ecological and cultural diversity, followed with the Peninsula of Dalieh.

The program aims to recognize citizens and city users as active partners in the battle to save the city’s heritage and to enable them to voice their concerns about how market-led developments and laisser-faire governance is changing the character and identity of Beirut.

Both sites were put on the list along with 48 other endangered sites worldwide. The hope is that this will bring attention to other heritage sites being threatened.

Places like the Red House in Beirut's Hamra area, which reportedly dates to the 18th century, La Maison Rose, or the Rose House, one of Beirut's oldest mansions dating to the 19th century, Ramlet El Bayda, Beirut's last public beach, the Laziza Brewery, also known as La Grande Brasserie du Levant, one of Lebanon’s first major factories and reportedly the oldest brewery in the Middle East, Horsh Beirut, the city's largest green space, and theancient ruins found in the so-called Beirut Digital District in the center of the capital are some examples of the city’s disregard of its cultural assets in favor of massive urbanization and real estate development.

As Florence Massena explained, they are “symbols of the lack of urban planning in the Lebanese capital, where heritage succumbs to money”.

The Red House was removed from “the list of protected buildings” in February 2017, just seven months after being put on the list. La Maison Rose is also facing an uncertain future after a British artist managed to briefly bring it back to the media spotlight. It was opened to the public at the end of 2016 for a couple of months. As for the Laziz Brewery, its demolition started in March of 2017 to “make way for a luxury apartment complex”.

Meanwhile, Horsh Beirut is being threatened today “by the ungoing construction of a field hospital inside the park” despite being classified as a natural site since 1940. The park originally covered 1.25 million sqm of Beirut but is now reduced to a triangle of 330,000 sqm. It was first opened to the public in September of 2015 after a 20-year closure.

“We're being killed”. Screenshot of video shared by Vine Venezuela on YouTube showing the two protesters in front of Tarek William Saad.

The presence of Venezuela's ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, in Beirut was not met kindly by Venezuelans in Lebanon, who organized protests to denounce violence in ongoing demonstrations in the Latin American country.

The ombudsman, whose official title is Public Defender of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Defensoría del Pueblo de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), was supposedly giving a speech on human rights in Beirut. Critics denounced his trip to Lebanon in the middle of the political crisis that has seen weeks of protests, in which 30 people have been reported killed as of May 4, 2017.

The most recent protests in a country that has seen political turmoil for years started when the Supreme Court of Justice effectively nullified the National Assembly on March 30. Despite the decision being short-lived, the widely unpopular government of Maduro, which has overseen a three-year-long economic crisis and record levels of violent crime and poverty, has inspired a growing opposition to his policies.

Two Lebanese-Venezuelan women interrupted Saab's speech while holding the Venezuelan flag upside down (one of the main symbols within the current protests) and yelling “My people are dying! We're being killed! Where are [those human] rights, Tarek?”

The video of the two women quickly went viral and made #Líbano (#Lebanon) a trending topic in Venezuela. Some users took the opportunity to spotlight the crackdown taking place in Venezuela at the same time that he was in Beirut:

I don't know what amazes me more, that scoundrel talking about human rights in a country like Lebanon or the incredible courage of those women #Dictatorship

There are an estimated 400,000 to 800,000 Venezuelans of Lebanese descent, the largest population of Lebanese in Latin America outside of Brazil and Argentina. Venezuela's current vice president, Tareck El Aissami, is of Syrian-Lebanese origins.

Global Voices contributor Hassan Chamoun was at the march. Participants walked and shouted slogans such as: “We are also humans” and “down with the Kafala system”, referring to the country's sponsorship system governing migrant domestic work. They also chanted: “All we are saying is, give us our rights”, a riff on John Lennon's song “Give Peace a Chance”.

Another chant was “Ratify, implement convention 189!” referring to the convention written by the International Labor Organization. If implemented in Lebanon, this would mean that the government is legally bound to abide by labour laws and migrant domestic workers believe that this would at least alleviate the terrible working conditions in the country.

Throughout the march, several migrant domestic workers watched from balconies, unable to join the march themselves. Some were waving at the protesters while others just looked on.

Two photos taken by Pat Sy showing the contrast between reactions from migrant domestic workers. Source: Facebook.

Speaking to Global Voices, many migrant domestic workers expressed their desire for Lebanon to recognize their rights.

Miriam, a worker from the Philippines, said:

Every year we ask about this so it's time to abolish [the kafala system].”

This refers to the notorious sponsorship system, or “Kafala” in Arabic, which governs migrant domestic work in Lebanon. The Kafala system essentially binds a migrant domestic worker's legal status to his or her employee.

Kafala is a system of control. In the migration context, it is a way for governments to delegate oversight and responsibility for migrants to private citizens or companies. The system gives sponsors a set of legal abilities to control workers: without the employer’s permission, workers cannot change jobs, quit jobs, or leave the country. If a worker leaves a job without permission, the employer has the power to cancel his or her residence visa, automatically turning the worker into an illegal resident in the country. Workers whose employers cancel their residency visas often have to leave the country through deportation proceedings, and many have to spend time behind bars.

The march was also a celebration of the culture and heritage of MDWs in Lebanon. Flags of Ethiopia could be seen flown alongside flags representing the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Nepal and others. Workers Day March in Beirut. April 30, 2017. Photo taken by Pat Sy. Source: Facebook.

Abdallah, a worker from Sudan, also declared “it is time to change the Kafala system”. A worker from the Ivory Coast said “we are maltreated here and we want a better life.” Another worker, from Sri Lanka, said that “we are not slaves, we want our rights”. And finally a worker from Bangladesh said, “We need freedom in Lebanon” while holding a sign on which was written: “Kafala System = 2017 Slavery”.

As their arrived at their final meeting point, Beirut's Raouche neighborhood, protesters held three minutes of silence for those who lost their lives in Lebanon. It is estimated that migrant domestic workers in Lebanon take their own lives at least once a month due to the brutal working conditions.

In fact, one could see a sign which read “stop labeling every murder as a suicide”, referring to the widespread belief that often those who are described as having killed themselves were in fact murdered by their employers.

Protesters also remembered those who were recently deported, most notably prominent unionists Sujana Rana and Roja “Rosie” Maya Limbu, both from Nepal, in December of 2016.

As was reported on Global Voices at the time, Lebanese officials refused to provide formal grounds for their arrest and deportation, leading many human rights groups and labour unions to suspect that it was their work in the high-profile role in the Domestic Workers’ Union, which Rana helped found, which got them deported.

Protester at the march waving the Sri Lankan flag. Taken by Pat Sy. Source: Facebook.

The protesters then read a speech in Arabic, English and French, and made nine demands to the Lebanese government. They are:

1. Abolish the sponsorship system (Kafala) and replace it with a just immigration and residency system that guarantees human rights, fair and ethical recruitment, labor mobility, and the possibility of MDWs to live outside the employer’s house and change employers.
2. Ratify and implement the ILO Domestic Workers Convention of 2011 (C189).
3. Expand the Lebanese labor law to cover all categories of laborers including domestic workers.
4. Reform the standard unified contract to guarantee basic rights including the rights to get the Lebanese minimum wage, terminate the employment contract, have a maximum hours of work and be paid for overtime, the rights to privacy and decent working and living conditions, the right to have a weekly day off outside the house and unaccompanied by employers, and the right to have proper health insurance.
5. Hold abusive employers accountable and establish an inspection mechanism coupled with accessible and affordable complaint mechanisms, fair and speedy trials and legal redress.
6. Hold to account and close down all abusive and unethical recruitment agencies and establish a black-list system for these.
7. Guarantee the right of domestic workers to organize and unionize.
8. Investigate properly the deaths of MDWs, and in case of unnatural deaths, bring to justice those who caused these deaths.
9. Stop state violence against MDWs including detaining MDWs who leave their employers’ houses, exercising violence in detention centers and police stations, and depriving MDWs’ children of legal residency.

Hassan Chamoun works with the Anti-Racism Movement and Joey Ayoub was a volunteer with the Migrant Community Center between 2013 and 2014.

The effort called “Painting On Camps Walls” was part of a larger initiative called Cosmic Future that wants to use art as a thereputical tool with Syrian young people. Involved are Conexus Project, a nomadic art collective; Al Caravan, which puts on educational, entertainment and cultural workshops for displaced Syrian children and adults; Costmic Boys, formed by Rimon Guimarães and Zéh Palito; curator Sheila Zago; and French documentarist Agathe Champsaur.

They launched a campaign fundraising their work and are sharing updates on Facebook and Youtube, on their work's progress.

In a moment of strong flux of immigration due international conflicts, people look for chances to survive, places to live – to wait or to start a brand new life. Many end living in non ideal conditions between refugee camps and settlements, where education is not easily accessed and children and teenagers often quit studying.

[…]

We believe that art can bring them some relief, perspective and skills to make their waiting less painful – as well as to give them a voice to express what they are experiencing, along with international visibility. Therefore, we aim to engage with children and teenager refugees living in these spaces, trying to turn their low life expectations into hope for a bright Cosmic Future!

Al Caravan

Al Caravan has been bringing art as well as other educational endeavors to displaced Syrians since 2013. The idea for the organization came to light a year earlier when the Syrian regime's air force dropped bombs over Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, during the daytime, forcing residents to escape, leaving their homes temporarily behind.

We were two friends, myself and Kasem Hammad, who sensed the potential of a mobile location to restore the people goods while they are away from homes, ideally caravans which were quite distributed in that area for agriculture mini-projects. They ask one manufacturer to fabricate a special “Magic Caravan” for the kids activities. Our joint was broken when my friend killed in a Syrian forces raid, but I insisted to continue the project.

In January 2013, Al Caravan dedicated itself to roam the remote areas for displaced families’ children basic learning, education, and entertainment activities. It's not a replacement for the school, but a kind of reinforcement of the civil society. The team grown to 15 activists serving around 1,500 boys and girls in three Syrian provinces countrysides, Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia. Nowadays, Al Caravan is acting in several areas in Syria and some refugees camps in Turkey, Lebanon and even Germany.

Despite having limited funding, Al Caravan gathered a team of around 100 volunteers in and out of Syria combined with activists from the educational field to offer their experience and work to Syrian children and use social media to communicate with the outside world.

The project's goals are to create a generation that enjoy the arts as an essential part of children's personality building away from violence as well as psychological support.

The work of around 3,000 children participating in these paintings were exhibited in Paris and Montreal, with plans to train 25 boys and girls to present a show about UN children rights with sol vocal and folkloric songs.

In a recent post on Facebook, Zeh declared their visit to Damascus, Syria to paint more walls of hope:

Fourth day in Syria: In the middle of the war we began to paint our mural in the center of the capital of the country. A very important day in my life for the importance that this mural carries and for all the situation that this country faces. The spark that started the war in the country in 2011 was a graffiti made by teenagers. Nowadays, 2017, we are here painting a mural with goal of spreading love and hope through art.

If we can fulfill our mission to paint this mural without any problem, this mural will be the largest painting mural in the country. Something that encourages us a lot and gives us the energy to continue painting in the midst of all the risks we run and all the difficulty we face to be here. Small detail: we arrived the country by armored car and we are painting with armed men around.

Syrians in general are very receptive, very friendly people, always treating us in the best way possible. In the streets many armed soldiers, magazines of cars and people in all avenues and several strategic points of the city. Sound of bombs, planes, shots during the day that intensify at night. I think we can now “abstract” the noises of the war that takes place six kilometers from where we are. Tension is everywhere but the joy too. Something difficult to explain.
The old town is magnificent and full of stories, the market, the architecture, the food all very unique. The people are beautiful and loving despite all the regrets.

Today the Secretary of Culture of the country made a beautiful public speech saying that we carry “guns” … our brushes bringing hope.

A painted school in the Beqaa Valley. From the Conexus Project Facebook Page

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/29/brazilian-graffiti-artists-and-young-syrians-are-painting-refugee-camp-walls-together/feed/033.9193573 35.7714844It’s a Small World After All: Into the Deep Podcasthttps://globalvoices.org/2017/04/27/its-a-small-world-after-all-into-the-deep-podcast/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/27/its-a-small-world-after-all-into-the-deep-podcast/#commentsThu, 27 Apr 2017 11:16:13 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=612615

When you first encounter people who come from countries or who speak languages that aren't your own, you might think that your differences are greater than your similarities. But spend a little time together, and you'll start to see that you have more in common than you first thought.

These global connections are important because they challenge our beliefs, they broaden our perspective, and they remind us that it might just be a small world after all.

In this edition of Into the Deep, the Global Voices podcast where we take a closer look at one topic that isn’t getting the media coverage it deserves, we are digging deep into global connections.

We speak with five Global Voices contributors who recall a moment in which they felt connected to someone across borders and across language. Veroniki Krikoni talks about the similarities between Greek and Turkish; Tori Egherman explains how a hiking trip cemented her affection for Iranian culture; Violeta Camarasa remembers how a love of music overcame a lack of a shared language while traveling in rural China; Adriana Macias speaks about her time working with people from around the world in London; and Joey Ayoub looks back on his experience living in a small village in Madagascar.

A special shout-out to Kat Batuigas, who helped us produce this episode.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/27/its-a-small-world-after-all-into-the-deep-podcast/feed/1Spend time with someone from a different country or who speaks a different language, and you'll soon realize you have more in common than you first thought.Spend time with someone from a different country or who speaks a different language, and you'll soon realize you have more in common than you first thought.L. Finchclean40:59Lebanon's King of Comedy Is on a Global Mission to Make Everyone Laugh at the Same Joke. It's Working.https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/16/lebanons-king-of-comedy-is-on-a-global-mission-to-make-everyone-laugh-at-the-same-joke-its-working/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/16/lebanons-king-of-comedy-is-on-a-global-mission-to-make-everyone-laugh-at-the-same-joke-its-working/#respondSun, 16 Apr 2017 10:00:40 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=611379

Lebanese-American comedian Nemr is as comfortable performing in Saudi Arabia as he is in the US. Credit: Maria Abou Nassar

This story by Carol Hills originallyappeared on PRI.org on April 13, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.

Some advice from an Arab son. If your career choice is to become a comedian, don't expect your dad to be very excited.

Here's how Lebanese-American Nemr Abou Nassar's dad responded: “You want to become a clown?” No, explained Nemr, a stand-up comedian. His dad remained skeptical. “Oh, you're going to stand up and be a clown!”

The riff goes on. Nemr's father buys a horn, the kind you put on a bicycle, and for the next eight years, he squeezes it every time his son visits: “Everybody, the clown is here.”

Then Nemr makes it onto the cover of Rolling Stone and suddenly his father changes his tone. “This is my son the comedian. I always told him follow your dreams.” But instead of Rolling Stone, he pronounces “Throwing Stones,” in a thick Arabic accent.

This was the May 2014 cover of Rolling Stone (Middle East). Credit: Rolling Stone

Nemr says his father is a huge fan, “as much as an Arab father would be a fan of his son because it's against Arab culture to ever encourage your children. It's a constant thing to keep them humble.” His father's only no-go zone is swearing. “If there's the funniest joke in the world and somebody drops an f-word, he just shuts down. He doesn't like that.”

But all those jokes about him? Nemr says his father just nods, “as long you're making money.”

The Arab father topic is intentional. Nemr performs in English across the Arab and Muslim world and now in North America. Right now, he's on a world tour, everywhere from Oklahoma to Saudi Arabia. “You don't really need to be from anywhere to actually relate to a father who has high expectations for their son.”

Nemr's global reach reflects his own experience. Born in Lebanon in 1983, his family moved to San Diego, California, when he was 2, during his country's long civil war. But just nine years later, his family moved back to Beirut. He found American issues like drugs and missing children too scary, telling his son: “In Beirut, the only danger is war. We can run away from that and hide.”

Nemr believes in the power of comedy to bring people together. “Right now, the world's at war not with an army but an ideology, and when you're breaking down the artificial barriers between Muslims, Christians and Jews, by putting them in the same room, not bringing up the religion, bringing up stuff that everybody's laughing together at, the next time somebody tries to infiltrate those divisions, they don't exist anymore.”

Credit: Maria Abou Nassar

And this may come as a surprise to many Americans: Nemr actually feels a tad of self-censorship when he performs in the US.

“Here, there's an air of political correctness right now, which is horrifying, as far as I'm concerned, for comedy. It kind of constricts your freedom of expression, which is strange, in what should be the most liberal art form, which is standing up and talking about an idea.”

In Lebanon, he can say anything. But when he's on stage in the US, he has to be careful, or give more explanation. Like his joke about ISIS.

“It's a silly joke about [American singer] Bruno Mars being an Arab because his songs don't make any sense unless you're an Arab.” Nemr sings a few lines from the Bruno Mars hit, “Grenade.” “I'd catch a grenade for you. Throw my head on a blade for you.” To Nemr the ISIS connection is obvious: “In which situation would you ever be walking with your girl down a boulevard and somebody throws a grenade at you, giving you the opportunity to step in and be the hero.”

The punchline: Only if you're dating someone from ISIS.

Nemr says American audiences wince a bit and shift in their chairs. “It occurred to me that because people are dying, Americans were like, ‘No that's inappropriate.’ Then, I have to explain that in the Middle East, if we don't joke when people are dying, we're never going to tell a joke. Because people are always dying. In the Middle East, I would have coasted right through that punchline.”

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/16/lebanons-king-of-comedy-is-on-a-global-mission-to-make-everyone-laugh-at-the-same-joke-its-working/feed/0Two Years After Violent Raid, A Lebanese Town is Still Without Mobile Internethttps://globalvoices.org/2017/04/05/two-years-after-violent-raid-a-lebanese-town-is-still-without-mobile-internet/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/05/two-years-after-violent-raid-a-lebanese-town-is-still-without-mobile-internet/#respondWed, 05 Apr 2017 11:00:32 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=610030

A view of the northeastern town of Arsal located near the Syrian border, October 2016. (Nabil Hassan)

The residents of the Lebanese town of Arsal have been without access to the 3G and 4G mobile networks for over two years. This measure, taken for security reasons according to government officials, has placed a significant financial burden on the town’s residents.

In August 2014, fighters from al-Nusra Front (affiliated with al-Qaeda) and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) raided Arsal and kidnapped 27 Lebanese soldiers and a member of the Lebanese security forces, holding them hostage in the hills of Arsal.

According to local civil society activists, 3G and 4G access was cut off by mobile telecom operators Alfa and touch after the raid, affecting the 160,000 residents of the northeastern border town, comprised of both locals and Syrian refugees. For the past two years, Arsal has been physically cordoned off from the rest of the country with checkpoints and heightened security measures. Being without mobile Internet has not only inconvenienced residents — it also left them with reduced access to emergency services and information when they need it most.

Khaled Rifai, president of a conglomerate of civil society organizations in Arsal, made inquiries “on behalf of the community” to the two telecommunications companies in 2016. He was told that “the decision was taken by the Lebanese state and is therefore not in [the telcos’] hands”. He then contacted the then telecommunications minister, Boutros Harb, who confirmed that the blocking of this service is a security decision taken by the army leadership targeting Syrians living in Arsal. Harb also asserted that the matter is “not in his hands” either.

Other individuals from the area have also called Alfa and touch to protest the shutdown and ask for an explanation. Activist Bassem Atrash questioned the two companies’ customer care representatives several times in 2015 and 2016, who said they were unaware of the issue. In an interview with SMEX, Atrash quoted one representative saying “Really? The internet is cut off in Arsal?”

He suspects that they feigned ignorance, in an effort to avoid having explaining why the networks remain inaccessible. Atrash also has observed that 3G and 4G services reconnect automatically as soon as he leaves Arsal to go to neighboring villages.

Despite the lack of information from the government and local telcos, it is conceivable that authorities are seeking to limit the abilities of violent extremist groups to communicate with one another. This tactic has been employed in various parts of the world, often in response to heightened security threats — such as insurgent attacks in Egypt's Sinai peninsula and the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Bangladesh last summer — and to the detriment of the local population.

Consequences of an Internet shutdown

Internet shutdowns are increasingly seen as a weapon of governments intent on stifling the access to information and media. Access Now, an international group dedicated to defending digital rights around the world, defines an internet shutdown as “an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information.” During their worldwide #KeepItOn campaign against internet blackouts, SMEX warned that “in times of political unrest, an internet shutdown could lead to an increase in violence and acts of repression while making it nearly impossible to reach essential services and connect with loved ones.”

Indeed, Arsal has witnessed repeated clashes between the Lebanese army and extremist militant groups since 2014. This has left residents not only subject to acts of violence, but also unable to convey news to the outside world. The Crisis Group, an organization providing analysis of conflicts, has reported allegations of human rights abuse by security officers. Such reports become more difficult to corroborate and verify when those most affected don’t have the ability to easily communicate with others.

Shutdowns can also have negative economic consequences. An investigation conducted by Bahrain Watch in 2016 uncovered a pattern of internet disruption in the Bahraini village of Duraz, which the group suspects were tied to protests in the village of 20,000 people. The investigation revealed that ISPs were collecting overcharge fees amounting to nearly $279,000 per month from internet subscribers in Duraz alone.

“This is, of course, a conservative estimate of economic damages,” the report adds, “as it does not take into account further losses stemming from the shutdown, such as students unable to complete assignments, and businesses unable to process credit card payments.”

Fixed Internet connections are expensive

Since the raid, Arsal residents who want to get online have had only option: subscribe to IDM, the sole internet service provider (ISP) licensed by the state in the area. This means they cannot access the internet, except in their homes or workplaces, and have no access when moving around town.

It also means they are subject to increased costs. As Atrash notes, despite not having consistent service, “I still activate the service monthly because I visit these villages two or three times a week and I use it there.” IDM’s cheapest plan, offering 2M-10GB, costs $12/month, in addition to the installation fees. In contrast, mobile plans for 24 or 48 hours (giving access to instant messaging apps) are as cheap as $1, allowing hourly wage workers to communicate with their loved ones in case of an emergency. In northern Lebanon, where poverty rates are among the highest in the country, IDM services are simply too costly for many residents.

Unlike many people, Atrash can afford a monthly plan. He pays “50,000 Lebanese pounds monthly (about $33) for very weak internet service that sometimes cuts off for an hour or longer, especially during storms,” he says.

The shutdown is also disrupting other aspects of the lives of Arsal residents and activists. “Some people, especially students, have to go to neighboring towns to access the internet,” explained Tarek al-Hujeir. An exasperated Rifai, the conglomerate president, shared his frustrations too. “Sometimes I have to leave work and go to my house just to send an email.” Meanwhile, resident Mahmoud Fleiti observed that “people seem to have gotten used to this reality.”

Is this legal under Lebanese law?

The Lebanese state is taking these kinds of measures despite a United Nations Human Rights Committee resolution, adopted in July 2016, that calls for the promotion and protection of human rights online. Through the resolution, the Council condemns “measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law, and calls upon all States to refrain from and cease such measures.”

Depriving people of access to the internet simply because of where they live is also a violation of the Lebanese constitution, which stipulates equality as a principle. The Preamble to the Constitution states that Lebanon is “based on respect for public liberties, especially the freedom of opinion and belief, and respect for social justice and equality of rights and duties among all citizens without discrimination.”

Despite the absence of a provision that explicitly guarantees the right of access to the internet, the Telecommunications Law 431 (2002), which regulates telecommunications services, provides that internet service is part of public telecommunications services. This law requires providers of these services to ensure their access by all citizens and residents in all regions. Access to the internet, as a public service, is enshrined by law. This calls into question the legal basis on which the Lebanese state can deprive an entire town of a basic public service in the digital age.

Without legal basis for the disruption of the lives of 160,000 people and in the absence of clear communication from government officials, residents are left vulnerable and further isolated in this remote border town.

Editor’s Note: SMEX contacted Lebanon’s two telecommunications companies and the office of Telecommunications Minister Jamal al-Jarrah for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/05/two-years-after-violent-raid-a-lebanese-town-is-still-without-mobile-internet/feed/0Activists Cry Foul as Lebanon Imposes a Tax Hike Right Before Postponing Elections, Againhttps://globalvoices.org/2017/03/23/activists-cry-foul-as-lebanon-imposes-a-tax-hike-right-before-postponing-elections-again/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/03/23/activists-cry-foul-as-lebanon-imposes-a-tax-hike-right-before-postponing-elections-again/#respondThu, 23 Mar 2017 20:31:55 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=608815Elections have been postponed three times in Lebanon since 2013. As a result, eligible voters from ages 21 to 28 have never had a chance to vote.

Protesters wave Lebanese national flags during a demonstration against proposed tax increase, in front of the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon. March 19, 2017. Photo by Hassan Chamoun.

Days after two thousand protesters gathered in front of the government palace in Beirut on March 19, to protest against proposed tax hikes, the Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri announced that elections will be delayed, again.

Hassan Chamoun, a videographer and member of the widely successful anti-corruption ‘You Stink’ Movement, argued that the proposed tax hike is an attempt to distract the Lebanese people from the election extension. Speaking to Global Voices, he said:

Ruling politicians are bringing attention to this issue on purpose, to eclipse the parliamentary extension and political deadlock between them regarding a new electoral law.

Elections should have taken place in June of 2013, but the parliament extended its own term for 17 months citing ‘security concerns’. Then, in November of 2014, citing the need to decide on a new electoral law before voting, the parliament delayed elections to 2017. This time, the government is saying the extension is for ‘ technical reasons’, in reality the parliament has reached a deadlock on the new electoral law.

To put this in perspective, a 28 year old Lebanese citizen has yet to vote for their parliamentarian of choice despite being legally allowed to vote since they turned 21. Popular blogger Elie Fares sarcastically thanked the government or dawleh for the extension on Facebook:

I’m 27 year old, moving to Philadelphia in 2 months, and I’ve never – nor will I ever at this rate – voted for parliament. #ThanksDawleh

Taxation without representation

Ramez Dagher, a blogger at Moulahazat, said that he joined the protests because the government is imposing taxation without representation. Speaking to Global Voices, he said:

They cannot raise taxes without giving the people the right to have a say about it. It is pure hypocrisy especially since they are leading the country towards a third cancelled parliamentary election. Lebanese politicians made us live in garbage for a year in a half, deprived us from electricity for decades, breathe corruption, and now want to raise taxes that will eventually feed that corruption in a way or another. Enough is enough.

The government is arguing that increased taxes are needed to finance the salaries of public sectors employees. Both Dagher and Chamoun agree that Prime Minister Saad Hariri appeal to protesters on Twitter was a publicity stunt and a strategic step meant to distract the public.

Dagher said that this made him “look as cool, friendly and caring” and “indirectly threw the responsibility from the government to the opposition, while also giving something for the protesting groups (who have nothing in common) to argue about: whether to negotiate with the PM or not”. Chamoun said that Hariri “wanted to look like the victim.”

GV contributor Zeina Nasser, who has been involved in the protests as both a journalist and an activist, points out that protesters’ demands are already very clear:

Personally, I think that our demands are clear enough, and were announced in the protests. There is no need for a committee and we know that this takes a lot of time in Lebanon. We're with raising employees’ salaries but not from the pockets of other Lebanese citizens who can barely make a living. We're with finding new ways for financing that such as a tax raise on maritime public property or projects that cost millions of dollars.

The tax hike is a smokescreen

Marina Chamma, a writer, activist, and blogger at ‘Eye on the East‘ argued that a tax increase isn't justified because the government refuses to tackle existing problems:

If only tax evasion, public financial waste, and corruption in the public sector are fought, this alone could finance the salary scale and much more. Instead, the government prefers to increase indirect taxes (such as VAT) and taxes that affect the average citizen (e.g. on interest on deposits), instead of undertaking a major overhaul of the taxation system (e.g. increasing direct tax such as income tax to make it truly progressive) or taxing such sectors as the banking sector that are considerably under-taxed.

While the government is willing to increase taxes on those already struggling, it is unwilling to tax the very wealthy. An example of that, as MTV Lebanon explained, is the government's attitude to wealthy yacht owners:

Believe it or not, yachts that are larger than 15 meters are exempted from customs and not a single penny enters the treasury of the state through them. Furthermore, a foreign national owning a yacht, in addition to not paying custom duties, unlike Lebanese owners, does not pay the Value Added Tax (VAT), which prompted many Lebanese owners to use several tricks by registering their yachts as foreign to evade paying the VAT.

But activists have more obstacles ahead of them. Not only do they have to find a way to maintain the momentum and fight against ‘protest fatigue’, but some are finding difficulties including more sections of society to make the protests more inclusive. Nasser is among those trying to organize the movement from the bottom up. She explains that there is a need to include disenfranchised groups in Lebanon such as the illiterate, the poor and migrant workers.

We are less hopeful every time a protest ends. I think that a sit-in is a must since it cause more pressure on the government.

Ara Malikian during his concert. Photo presented by BG Sound Stage, used with permission.

They call him a violin genius. Ara Malikian, an Armenian man who grew up in Lebanon, has studied music in Germany and England and currently lives in Spain. He recently became a concertmaster in the Royal Symphonic Orchestra of Madrid. Malikian has traveled the world, performing in concert halls as a soloist and as part of symphonic orchestras.

In late February, Malikian performed a concert in Sofia, Bulgaria. The next month, he gave another show in Ankara, Turkey. This second concert had special significance, in light of Malikian's position on the Armenian Genocide, which he commemorated in September 2015 with performances in Zaragoza and Madrid.

Malikian has also played in support of the refugees in Lebanon. In both life and on the stage, he has become a symbol of cultural unity for fans, merging musical traditions from Central Europe, Argentina, Spain, and Arab and Jewish cultures.

Malikian's father, an amateur Armenian violinist, introduced him in the world of music at an early age, teaching him about Lebanese musical traditions. Malikian's most recent album, “The Incredible Story of a Violin,” was inspired by his childhood. At the age of 12, he performed at his first concert. At the age of 15, he got his big break, winning a scholarship to the musical school of Hannover. He later continued his education in London.

Global Voices’ Nevena Borisova recently spoke to Malikian about his life and his music.

Nevena Borisova (NB): You have a really rich biography. It's difficult to choose from where to start…You are a cosmopolitan by soul, by nationality. Still, where do you most feel at home?

Ara Malikian (AM): Frankly, nowhere. Today I feel myself at home in Bulgaria, because you Bulgarians welcomed me with much love. And I feel very confident here. I have been travelling so much during my whole life that I had to learn to feel home everywhere with any people. But the most important thing for me at a place are the people. When I meet people who I feel close to me, I feel like being at home.

NB: What's the difference between your two last albums?

AM: First of all, in my last album there are my own compositions. Never before I have been a composer in my albums, but in this last one I worked a lot on the compositions and therefore I am happy it is a fact. Furthermore, in this album I had many guests. We had many live concerts. This last album is very special — it is very new for me.

NB: You have interacted with many types of music: classical, Argentinian (tango), Oriental, Spanish… What are the main sources of your inspiration? What are the main types of music that most influenced you in your last album?

AM: I don’t control from where the inspiration comes. I was lucky to be able to play with musicians from many places, many styles. Each of them has inspired me. Every one of them has taught me many things. When I make music, it comes from the subconscious, which is in fact the most precious. In the album, each song is completely different from the previous or the next one. They are very different by style. This is the way by which I perceive and make the music. This is my musical concept. I would be bored if I always proceeded in the same way.

NB: You have interacted with many cultures. You are like a living proof that there are many points of contact between cultures. And how do you explain all these conflicts in the world that we witness today?

AM: There are many people who are desperate because of living with all these conflicts. Refugees, wars, terrorism… It is all very negative side of the world. I think that the only way to go through these conflicts is through art, music, culture. The world can change through interacting with other cultures, on the basis of respect towards other opinions and ways of thinking. Through art it is the best way to understand that — although we are different — we all have something in common. That is why I think, sooner or later, culture and art will save humanity… I am sure.

NB: In 1899, the Bulgarian poet Peyo Yavorov dedicated the poem “Armenians” to the fate of the Armenian people. A moment ago, you said that you believe that art can change the world. Do you think that contemporary artists are thinking or engaged enough with the perspective of a better world, with today's problems?

AM: There are many artists who are engaged and make an effort to improve the world, but of course there are other ones who think in a more selfish way and who are more interested in economic and political terms… And of course not so much humanitarian interests. So, there is always this conflict between these two ways of thinking. But it still seems to me that the world is a better place today, although we think it is a worse place. And sooner or later people will realize that the only way to survive is to respect each other, our differences, opinions, fate, and different ways of life.

NB: You have lived in the Middle East, in Beirut. In one of your interviews, you said Oriental music is very tranquil, and can be very mild and peaceful. Why then do we observe an absence of peace in that region?

AM: Oriental music can be that way, but it can also be very, very rhythmical. There are both styles of this music. Frankly, I do not know why there are so many wars… Maybe because of hot blood, I do not know [laughing]… I've lived in Lebanon for many years and I have many friends who are Arabs and Jews. And basically they live very well, but when it comes to economic interests and political interests, things change. I think if only people would live together they would have any problems. But as long as these interests and leaders wield influence, they create hate, rage, and this is how you come to war. But I believe that the normal people don’t want to have war. I remember when I lived in Lebanon, we did not want to have war, even though we lived in a time of war, we didn’t want…

NB: A few years ago, you had a concert in Lebanon in support of the refugees. How Lebanon has changed since the time you remember it?

AM: In Lebanon things have changed. When I left Lebanon, the country was plunged in an absolute war. Now there is a kind of peace, people respect each other and each other’s differences. Of course, now there are other, new problems related to the situation of refugees. We have to see how we can make the lives of refugees better, so they can have a future. Those who have lost their family, home, and work — they cannot go back to their countries… Of course, the best way of solving the problem is having peace in their country, so they can go back and find their lives there… But until they go back, we have to help them.

Ara Malikian during his concert. Photo presented by BG Sound Stage, used with permission.

NB: You've had a concert in support of Armenians and in defense of what the Armenian people call a historical injustice. What are the biggest challenges for Armenians today?

AM: I have Armenian roots, I speak Armenian, and I also play Armenian music, I know my culture… We, Armenians, are trying to persuade the world to recognize the genocide, which today is forgotten. We are trying it to be recognized officially — to correct the historic record. That is what we try to do. And what we shouldn’t do today is create hatred against the Turks. I think that Turks today are not our enemies. Of course, they have to recognize the genocide — all the crimes that were committed. But I think for the good of our relations, we shouldn’t think of them as our enemies, and we have to respect them. We have to try to talk with them through dialogue and try to resolve the problem.

NB: Your talent flourished early when you were child, with the war in Lebanon in the background. How would you describe your childhood?

AM: Although as a child I lived during the war, I really have good memories of it. I had friends, I enjoyed my family, my mother, and my father. The only unfortunate thing was that my childhood was still very short, because I went to Germany [for a music school scholarship]. But this was my destiny: to have a short childhood, but to enjoy it.